


Arranged Marriage

by KarieRene (TheSiren)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: After the wizarding war, Eventual Smut, F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, I didn't know what to name her parents, Post-War, Slow Burn, former romione, its going to be painfully slow, so I used the names she gave them before the war ended
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:11:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10724547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSiren/pseuds/KarieRene
Summary: Voldemort had been defeated, largely in thanks to the Malfoy family and Narcissa’s lie that kept Harry hidden during the last stages of the Battle of Hogwarts. But they were still considered pariah’s in the wizarding world, due to their history of closeness to the Dark Lord and their willingness to switch sides before, during, and after the war had ended. Which is why Narcissa and Lucius decided that it would be best for their only child, Draco, to marry the muggle-born Granger girl. They had taken great lengths to convince her parents that their children would be a good match together, but neither of them had taken it well. It wasn't legally an arranged marraige, they weren’t forcing either side, but it was being encouraged that they spend time together. Especially since Narcissa and Lucius invited Mr and Mrs Granger for dinner quite often, in an attempt to get the Hermione and Draco to spend more time together. Their children were still fighting over the proclaimed marriage, but both parents hoped in time that they would come around to the idea.





	Arranged Marriage

“Hermione! Get down here! We’re supposed to be having dinner with the Malfoy’s in an hour!” Monica Granger shouted up the stairs to her daughter.  
“Mother! I’ve already told you that I don’t want to go! This whole marriage thing is ridiculous!” Hermione argued, stubborn as ever.  
“Hermione, please. We’re not going to force you to spend time alone with Draco, please come with us for dinner.” Monica argued back, using persuasion tactics to get her daughter to join them for dinner. She did agree that the Malfoy son would be a good match for their daughter, especially since he was so different from the Weasley boy she carried a torch for. Not that there had been anything wrong with Ron, Monica and Wendell believed that they weren’t quite compatible. But that didn’t mean that she was going to force Hermione to go along with something she wasn’t comfortable with.  
“Do you promise?” Hermione asked, some of the fight going out of her voice.  
“Yes, darling. We promise. Now please, come join us so we won’t be late.” There was a slight shuffling upstairs and Hermione came down, dressed in an evening dress, a light blue color that complimented her brown hair and dark eyes. “You look lovely, Mione.” Her mother said, using their childhood nickname for her to soften her demeanor.  
“Are we all ready?” Wendell Granger came around the corner and asked. “You both look lovely, the car is started and we’re all ready to go. We don’t want to be late.” As the small family piled into the car, Hermione wondered what the angle was for the Malfoy’s and why they were so insistent on getting her and Malfoy together. She hated the little weasel, or better yet, the little ferret. He was horrible to her during her time at Hogwarts and she doubted that he would act any different now. She hated disappointing her parents, but she didn’t want to marry, date, or otherwise be close to Draco Malfoy. She saw the mansion in the distance and she steeled herself for the horrible dinner to come. 

Narcissa posted herself by the door, ready to open it approximately 45 seconds after the Granger’s knocked. She didn’t want to seem too eager for them, but she also didn’t want to appear rude and make them wait, either. The doorbell rang and she patiently counted the seconds before sweeping back the door and saying hello to her newest set of friends.  
“Ahh! And you brought dear Hermione! Draco will be so happy to see you!” She feigned, hoping that she had pronounced the muggle-borns name right. She didn’t particularly care whether she was a nice girl or not, so long as it brought them back in good social standing. Narcissa and Lucius were actually quite fond of the Muggles, but they would rather chew their own arms off than admit it out loud. Hermione smiled back at her, but her parents passed around hugs and greetings to Narcissa, asking about Lucius.  
“Oh, I think he’s in the library catching up on his reading. I’ll have to go fetch him before dinner.” Narcissa explained, throwing a small hook out to the Granger girl.  
“You have a library?” She asked, not realizing that she was being reeled in by the Malfoy matriarch.  
“Of course, dear. We actually have the one of the largest private wizarding libraries in all Europe.” Narcissa explained, hoping the Granger girl would take the bait.  
“That’s impressive, Narcissa. Maybe Hermione can take a look at it after dinner?” Monica answered, slightly deflating Narcissa, but not enough for her to show.  
“Of course, that would be a brilliant idea. I’m sure you’d love it.” She smiled warmly at Hermione, trying to elicit some type of positive reaction. Hermione gave a tiny, genuine, smile but that was all the emotion she showed. Narcissa gestured for the Granger’s to follow as she led them to the sitting room next to the dining room. Draco was already there, dressed in a black suit drinking a cup of steaming hot tea.  
“Would anyone else care for one?” He drawled, trying to sound uninterested. He was uninterested in the Granger girl, but her parents were acceptable. They were much more intelligent than he expected Muggles to be and that was pleasant. Most of his parents friends were inanely boring, only wanting to talk about the outcome of the war or the banking industry. It was all about money and social standing to them and his parents weren’t any different. Which was why they were trying to get him together with Granger. The wizarding world was trying to recover, post-war, from the way muggle-borns had been treated. And Draco's parents were leading the charge. If he, a pure-blood, married a muggle-born, then it would show he was unconcerned with blood status. That would mean that his parents were considered 'good people'. This would garner them social standing and put them back in their old world. Their old world consisted of the popularity club, which was exhausting. It had been since Draco was a child. The people who ‘ran’ the club were horrid, inviting and uninviting people to gatherings and it had been a while since his parents had gotten an invite. He knew that he was the only way that his parents would get another invite, after everything that his father did to aid Voldemort during the war. His mothers lie and his parents willingness to keep themselves out of jail by giving up names were the only reasons that he was even sitting in this room, drinking hot tea. 

His mother shot him a look, before moving to the teapots and waving her wand to start a brand new brew.  
“Sorry mother. I didn’t realize that I’d drank it all.” Draco quipped, knowing he looked petulant but he didn’t care. He wasn’t here to impress these people, he was here because he loved his parents and he wanted to make them happy. He could see Granger sneering out the corner of his eye and he resisted the urge to sneer back at her. As the tea finished brewing, Narcissa poured one for everyone, before instructing Draco to go retrieve his father from the library. Narcissa made small talk, trying to get to know Hermione better, but the girl was smart and stubborn. She didn’t open up and only spoke when directly spoken to. She wasn’t rude, per say, but she was definitely closed off and disinterested in the subject matter at hand. Draco returned, looking flushed, and Narcissa wondered what Lucius had argued with him about. She would have to question the both of them later about it, but there were more prudent matters at hand. She needed to find a way to get Draco and Hermione together, but she was unsure of how to do that. Draco was sulky and mean, Hermione was stubborn and standoffish. She knew she had a large task with these two, but she was willing to put in the work.  
“Come. Dinner should be ready by now, so let’s sit and have some wine and relax.” Narcissa said, standing and leading the group to the dining room, gesturing to their assigned seats. Lucius at the head of the table, Narcissa to his right with Draco to hers. The Grangers on the opposite side of the table, with Hermione at the end. A small girl comes out, announcing that the first course would be out momentarily as Narcissa tried to pull Hermione into conversation once more.  
“So Hermione, what did you enjoy studying most during your time at Hogwarts?” She asked, being polite and inviting.  
“Muggle studies.” Hermione answered, looking into Narcissa’s eyes and daring her to say something.  
“But my dear, don’t you know more about Muggles than most?” She quipped back, not missing a beat.  
“Of course, I was raised by Muggles. It’s just interesting to study from a pure-blood point of view.” She snapped back, focusing on the glass of red wine in front of her. Narcissa had nothing to say, instead asking the Granger’s how their teeth business was going. They both smiled at the lack of knowledge but responded that it was doing quite well. The first two courses were served without further incident but once dessert came around, Narcissa tried again.  
“So Hermione, Draco has told us that you were one of the smartest in every class at Hogwarts. Have you considered going back now that the war is over?”  
“I’m going back now.”  
“Interesting. Have you thought about what you might like to do when you’re finished?”  
“Muggle studies.”  
“I’m sure you’ll be one of the most knowledgable on the subject, dear. I’m sure we have plenty of books in the library if you should like to borrow them.”  
“Thank you.” Hermione knew she was going to hear it from her mother on the drive home about her attitude, but she didn’t care. She didn’t think the Malfoy's cared about her or her parents and she wanted nothing to do with them. Once dessert finished, Narcissa offered to have Lucius walk Hermione to the library before retiring to the sitting room for some Firewhisky.  
“I’ll show her, Mother. You and father go sit and enjoy your company.” Draco offered, almost afraid of what his father might say if he showed her the way. Narcissa smiled, knowing that Draco wouldn’t want to have his father escort the muggle-born because he was known to be a brash. Hermione looked a little startled, unsure of whether to take the offer or not. She looked to her mother as she nodded that it was alright. She stood, walking to where Draco stood with an open door. He held it open for her as she walked through, her shoulder brushing along his chest.  
“Follow me. I think you’ll like the library.” Draco stated dryly, while Hermione nodded. She followed him down a series of hallways before Draco opened a door. He was waiting for her to enter first, so she obliged and headed through the door, shoulder brushing against his chest again. She tried to ignore the jolt it sent down her arm, but she subconsciously began rubbing her arm at the same time that Draco began rubbing his chest. The jolt soon left her mind as she got her first look at the Malfoy Mansion library. It was huge, and it reminded her of the library in her childhood story of Beauty and the Beast, only instead of being in gold, it was in green and black. She knew that she could see herself spending hours in here and before she knew it, her feet were carrying her to her right. She was looking at the books, the worn spines, the faded titles. She wanted to open a book and sink into the nearest chair. She continued to wander through the shelves, blissfully oblivious to everything but a reading spot and a good book. She finally came upon the former, as well as a fireplace and two comfortable looking chairs.  
“This is my favorite spot. I sit here nearly every day. Those books on the table are some of my favorites to read.” Hermione jumped, not realizing Draco was still with her.  
“You’re still here? You read?” She blurted, an instinctual response to being startled. She expected Draco to be angry, but he chuckled.  
“I figured you might get lost on your way back, so I stayed with you. And yes, I do read. I always enjoyed it. I’m also trying to educate myself a little more on politics and muggle history.” He smiled at her, surprising her but enticing her nonetheless.  
“What have you been reading?”  
“Just the basics of muggle history. In England, that is. I haven’t branched out to other countries yet. I was also reading about the Wizarding War during the 1940’s, Grindewald’s time.” Draco explained and he found it rather enjoyable that Hermione got a twinkle in her eye when it came to books.  
“That’s amazing. I’ve always enjoyed learning about that period of time. I feel like we could learn a lot from it and we could possibly stop another Wizarding War from happening if we educated ourselves on it more. I think it could help the future if we did.” She said, almost all in one breath.  
“I have a couple books on the table about it if you would like to borrow them.” Draco offered.  
“Oh no, I couldn’t take them if you’re still reading them!” Hermione insisted.  
“No, I’m finished. I haven’t put them back yet.” Draco told her, not truthful, but they were having such a nice moment that he didn’t want to ruin it by letting her know that he was only a couple chapters deep in both that he was reading.  
“Thank you, Draco. It’s very kind of you.” She smiled, sending Draco’s heart beating a hint faster but he wasn’t sure why.  
“Of course. Would you like to stay here and read?” He offered her, not wanting to go back to the reality of his parents yet.  
“Oh no. If I start now, I won’t stop reading until I’m so exhausted I fall asleep. If it’s okay, I’ll grab a couple books and we can head back to our parents.”  
“Of course. Grab anything from the table and if you wish to read something that isn’t there, I can show you where it is on the shelves.” She began rummaging through the books on the table, grabbing four and then headed back to where Draco was standing.  
“I’m ready. Is it okay if I borrow these?”  
“Of course. When you come back to return them, I can show you around a little more, see some of the shelves of genres. We have quite a few here.” He offered, making sure that he slipped in that she would need to come back and return the books she borrowed. They walked back to their parents, side by side making small talk, and Draco began to wonder if his mother had a stroke of brilliance when she thought about setting him up with the Granger girl.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I thought of this the other day and I got pretty excited about it. I'm super excited to see where this goes and I hope you guys stick with me through this journey. As always, comments and kudos are always appreciated! See you in the next chapter!


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